Skylights play tough games in Great Falls

The Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team is fresh off of two impressive wins in Phoenix last weekend. But the Skylights will have to put those wins in the rearview mirror and refocus, because they’ve got two more tough opponents in front of them.

The No. 21 Skylights will be in Great Falls today and Saturday for a pair of non-conference games, and they’ll put their perfect 8-0 start to the season on the line against two very good teams

Today, the Skylights (8-0) square off against Corban University of Oregon, and on Saturday, Northern battles Dakota Wesleyan.

“They’re both just really good basketball teams,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said of his opponents at the UGF tournament. “They both have some really good wins already this season, and they both play tough schedules. So we’re going to have our hands full.”

Of course, the Skylights are really good too, and proved that by blowing out two NAIA foes last weekend in Phoenix. Northern’s defense is allowing just 38 points per game, while the MSU-N offense is balanced, with Natalee Faupel and A’Jha Edwards each averaging 14 points per night, and freshman Jacy Thompson already among the NAIA leaders in 3-point shooting. Taylor Cummings and Megan Feldman are also each averaging nine points per outing.

“I really like our team defense so far,” Mouat said. “I feel like that has been there for us every night. Offensively, I think we’re playing well, too, I like how balanced we’ve been and the lift we’ve been getting from our bench. But overall, our defense has just been really good.

“What I’d like to see, starting with this weekend, is us put a more complete game together,” he continued. “We need to be more consistent. At some point, our defense won’t be able to carry us the whole way, and though we’ve played well offensively, we certainly can be more consistent.”

Being consistent will be a must this weekend in Great Falls. Corban is a team the Skylights beat out of the Cascade Conference a year ago, but it wasn’t an easy win. And with 6-2 center Tara Van Weerdhuizen averaging a double-double, and good shooters all around her, the Warriors will present a stern test for the unbeaten Skylights tonight.

“They are talented,” Mouat said of the Warriors. “They have length, and they play great defense and can rebound the ball. But they also have really good guards who can score in a number of different ways. So they are going to test our defense for sure.”

Dakota Wesleyan will challenge Northern as well. The Tigers are a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference and are off to a 4-0 start heading into their game with Carroll College tonight. The Tigers have size, but they are a high-scoring bunch, that like Corban, wants to push the tempo and score fast. So Northern will look to counter that with its trademark defense.

“Both teams like to push it, to get the tempo going,” Mouat said. “So we’ll have to play really well defensively, and we’ll need to rebound it well. Those will be big keys for us against these two teams.”

But as tough as both the Warriors and Cougars will be, Mouat is excited about the challenges ahead. Northern has really only been pushed in one game, a close win last month at the University of Lethbridge. And he expects his team to get pushed this weekend by two quality NAIA opponents.

“These games will be good for us,” Mouat said. “These are two very good teams. So it gives us a chance to really find out more about ourselves. These will be two very competitive games.”

The Skylights face Corban today at 5:30, and then take on Dakota Wesleyan Saturday at 6 p.m. Both games will be at UGF’s McLaughlin Center. Following this weekend’s games, the Skylights will be off until they battle Valley City State Nov. 29 in Havre.